“Weeks away from lighting this whole thing up”

November 15, 2013

A three year project to bring high-speed internet access to Oconee County is “weeks away”, in the estimation of Scott Moulder, county administrator. Moulder was asked to give a status report today to the county Economic Development Commission. “We’re beginning to work the ISPs. We actually have three ISPS that have signed up,” Moulder reported. The part that the ISPs will play will be critical, as they are to provide the “last mile” of connection between a computer user’s location and the road where the buried cable runs. Moulder also said the county is seeking information from companies that would be interested in “managing and operating this thing.” The cost for Oconee’s FOCUS (Fiber Optics Creating Solutions) project is being financed, for the most part, by a $9.6 million federal grant approved in 2010.